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Leahy blast Boeing over A380 “too quiet” remark

Randy Tisneth, Boeing’s vice president of marketing for commercial airplanes, recently wrote in his blog that the cabin of the Airbus A380 may be too quiet.

His comments did not sit well with John Leahy, the chief Airbus salesman.

Here is part of what Randy said:

You may recall media reports earlier this year making a lot of noise about how quiet it was aboard the A380.

In stories about the A380 passenger experience, we read that even seated by a window, you could hear conversations on the other side of the airplane, or even several rows away. In some reports, when passengers mentioned that this might be a bit disconcerting, they were told that one might have to “get used to” eavesdropping on an airplane.

So, I wonder if this also means that we’ll hear crying babies many rows further away than on today’s airplanes? Or sounds from the galleys?

I don’t know about you, but my personal experience is that if you can’t sleep because you can hear lots of conversations, or other sounds, you’re going to be more fatigued when you arrive.

Leahy, speaking to reporters covering the Asian Aerospace show this week, was quoted as saying:

“Boeing is clutching at straws. There is no such thing as an aircraft that is too quiet. If Boeing says that, because they don’t have an aircraft that competes, then I think it is frankly embarrassing that they even said that.”

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate.